Names In The News

Magic Senior VP PAT WILLIAMS yesterday "conveyed optimism and hope" about his fight against multiple myeloma, an "incurable but treatable blood disease." Williams said, "I've tried to live a life of faith for years, and in a moment like this, I think you really get to put your faith in action. ... I've always felt that there was another chapter in my life, maybe a grand finale to all of my years in baseball and basketball and all the years of speaking and writing. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to play out, but perhaps we're seeing that now." ROBERT REYNOLDS, Williams' oncologist and hematologist, said that there is a 70-75% chance that the disease "will go into remission" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/17).

PAYING A PREMIUM: An insurance company sued by Oklahoma State Univ. booster T. BOONE PICKENS and the school's athletic fundraising foundation claims that OSU "breached its contract and has no right to recover $33 million in premiums." Lincoln Life Insurance Co. alleges that OSU officials "waited too long to cancel the insurance policies and are not entitled to a refund." At issue is the school's "Gift of a Lifetime" program, which "involved taking out $10 million insurance policies on 27 supporters with the university as the beneficiary" (AP, 2/16).

YOU CAN CALL ME SUPERMAN: Magic C DWIGHT HOWARD is "playing host to a party for NBA All-Star Weekend" on Friday night in L.A., with admission costing between $100-20,000. The most-expensive package to the party "includes 40 admission tickets, 12 bottles of premium liquor or six magnum bottles of premium liquor and five bottles of Ace of Spades Champagne." The event's website claims the party will have "video vixens" and the "finest females Hollywood has to offer" (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 2/17).

NAMES: Yankees RF NICK SWISHER has switched representation from JOE BICK to DAN LOZANO, not SCOTT BORAS as had been rumored (NEWSDAY, 2/17)....Actor ROB MAYES has been cast as one of the lead characters in RON SHELTON's minor league baseball-themed pilot for TBS called, "HOUND DOGS" (VARIETY.com, 2/16)....Former NBAer DENNIS RODMAN reportedly owes "more than $42,000 in delinquent taxes to the state of California," though Rodman's business manager "disputes the debt" (DETROIT NEWS, 2/17)....Broncos CB CHAMP BAILEY has put his home in Littleton, Colo., on the market. Bailey purchased the estate in '07 for $1.6M (DENVER POST, 2/17)....Blackhawks LW PATRICK SHARP is featured on one of two covers for the March issue of "Chicago Magazine," which names him one of the city's "50 Most Beautiful People." The issue hits newsstands today (THE DAILY).